Railway draft rigging



Oct. 25, 1932. J. F. o'coNNoR RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGING Filed Nov. 17. 195oPatented Oct. 25, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN F. OCONNOR,CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO W. H. lVIINER, INC., OF CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE I RAILWAY DRAFT RIGrGINGr,A

i Application led November 17, 1930. Serial 110.496,13?.

This invention relates to improvements in railway draft riggings.

Oneobject of the invention is to provide in a railway draftv riggingincluding the usual yoke member, shock absorbing means enclosed therebyand a coupler operatively connected to the yoke and cooperating with theshock absorbing mechanism, means for supporting the yoke andmaintaining'the proper alinement of the parts of the draft rigging inall operative positions thereof and preventing drooping ofthe couplerhead, wherein the supporting means has engage ment with the outer end ofthe yoke and is movable with the same in both buff and draft, therebyreducing wear between these parts to a minimum and at all times properlysupporting the yoke. A further object'of the invention is to provide amechanism of the character indicated in the preceding paragraph, whichis particularly adapted for railway draft riggings,

wherein the shock absorbing mechanism is.

compressed to a greater extent in buff than in draft, inotherkwords,wherein the coupler has longer travel in buif than in draft.A proper support for the coupler shank is provided in all positionsthereof, the supporting means being in the form of a shelf at the outerend of the yoke disposed outwardly 'of the connection of the couplershank with the yoke. 1

Amore rspecific object of the invention is to provide a supporting meansfor the outer end 'of a yoke of a railway draft rigging, opperativelyconnected to the yoke for movement therewith, wherein the supportingmeans comprises link elements swingingly suspended from the carunderframe structure A and pivotally secured to the yoke.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a swinging yokesupport of the character specified-in the preceding paragraph, wherebythe yoke is guided fory longi tudinalmovement in a true horizontal path.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a railway draftrigging, having longer travel in buff than in draft including a shockabsorbing mechanism, a yoke co-operating with the shock absorbingmechanism, and a coupler connected to the yoke by means of a keyextending through the coupler shank and the yoke and working in slotsprovided in the draftsills, wherein the key has the ends thereof, whichWork in the draft sill slots, reduced in size to permit the additionaltravel in buff, and that portion of the key connecting the coupler shankand yoke is of full size to provide the necessary rugged connectiontherebetween;

A further object of the invention is to providel in a railway draftrigging having longer travel in bu than in draft a yoke member and rearstop means sodesigned as to permit travel of the yoke inwardly in buffto provide for longer travelk than in draft, andl wherein the main frontfollower is reduced in thickness to less than the standard follower,thereby permitting the use of a corre* spondingly shorter yoke,therebyreducing the amount offclearance necessary to allow the required inwardmovement of the yoke in buff.` f

Other objects of the invention will more clearly appear from thedescription and claims hereinafter following.

In the drawing, forming a part of this specification, Figure l is avertical, longitudinal, sectional view through the 'underframe structureof a railway car illustrating my improvements in connection therewith.Figure 2 is a horizontal, longitudinal, sectional view, correspondingsubstantially to the line 2 2 of Figure l. Figure 3 is a longitudinal,vertical, sectional view of the underframe structure at the end of arailway car, 4illustrating a different embodiment of the invention, thecenter sill structure being shown in elevation. Figure 4 is a vertical,sectional view corresponding substantially to the line 4 4 of Figure 3.And Figure 5 is f a vertical, sectional view corresponding to the line5-5 of Figure 4, also illustrating, in dotted lines, different positionsof the parts. v p

Referring first to the embodiment of the invention illustrated inFigures and 2, 1 0-10 designate the channel-shaped spaced draft sills ofthe car underframe structure, to the inner sides of which are securedthe usual front stop lugs 11--11. The stop lugs and the sills havealined coupler key guide slots 12-12. The underframe structure of thecar is provided with the usual rear stop casting 13, which also forms aller .block between the sills and has the upper part of the centerbearing formed thereon. As shown in Figure 1, the casting 13 is providedwith the usual center pin receiving opening. The stop casting 13 hasspaced, forwardly projecting arms 14e-14 forming the rear stops properof the railway draft rigging. The coupler of the car is indicated by 15and is connected to the yoke of the draft rigging, as hereinafter morefully pointed out. The striking casting of the draft rigging isindicated by 16 and is fixed to the draft sills and the other part-s ofthe underframe structure of the car.

As illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, I provide broadly a yoke A; a shockabsorbing mechanism B; a cooperating front follower C within the yoke; acoupler key D; and a pair of yoke supporting links It- The yoke A, whichencloses the shock absorbing mechanism B, has the usual top and bottomarms 17-17 connected at the rear end by a vertical section 18. At theforward end, the yoke is hooded, said hood portion being defined byspaced side walls 19-19, a top wall 20 and a bottom wall 21. The spacedside walls of the hood are pro` vided with alined coupler key receivingslots 22-22- The top wall 20 of the hood, as shown in Figure 1, isshorter than the bot` tom wall 21 and converges outwardly toward saidwall. The bottom wall has a raised, thickened portion 23 at the outer orforward end thereof, which forms a support forthe coupler shank closelyadjacent the head of the coupler. As shown, the supporting shelf ormember 23 of the yoke is disposed 'forwardly of the coupler keyreceiving openings 22-22 thereof and in the normal position of thepants, as illustrated in Figure l, extends outwardly beyond the plane ofthe striking surface of the casting 16. A saddle plat-e 24, secured tothe bottom flanges of the draft sills in the usual manner, guides theinner end portion of the yoke. At the forward end, thel yoke issupported by the links E E. Each link E is pivotally connected at thelower end to the yoke A by means of a pivot member 25 in fthe form of apin eX- tending through alined openings in the bottom ends of the linksand openings provided in depending lugs 26e-2G formed integral with thebottom wall 21 of the hood of the yoke and located adjacent the outerend of the same, as shown in Figure 1. The upper ends of the links .Eare swingingly suspended from the striking casting 16 by means of apivot pin member 27 extending through openings in the upper ends of thelinks and lugs 28 formed integral with the striking casting. As will beevident, the yoke A is thus supported for sliding movement lengthwise ofthe railway draft rigging on the saddle plate 24: and by the links E-EThe links E-E being pivotally connected to the yoke and suspended fromthe striking casting in such a manner as to swing lengthwise of the car,provide supporting means for the forward end of the yoke, which ismovable therewith, thereby reducing the wear of the parts by eliminatingrelative sliding move` ment between the supporting means and the 7oke.

5 The shock absorbing mechanism B, which is disposed within the yoke, isof well known form, and as herein shown, is of the friction typeincluding a friction shell 29, friction means in the form of shoes 3()cooperating therewith and a wedge block 31 having wedging engagementwith the shoes. As will be understood, the inward movement of thefriction means is resisted by the usual spring dis posed within theshell 29. The shock absorbing mechanism B is so designed that the sameis capable of greater compression in buff` than in draft, that is indraft it is not compressed to its full capacity. The 'main follower C isin the form of arectangular plate interposed between the wedge `block 31of the shock absorbing mechanism B and the inner end of the shank of thecoupler 15. The follower C is preferably of lesser thickness than thestandard follower usually em ployed. At the inner end, the frictionshell 29 of the shock absorbing mechanism is provided with the usualfollower member 32 formed integral therewith and cooperating with therear stops formed by the arms 14-14 of the casting 13. In long traveldraft gears, the friction elements project so far from the end of thecylinder that there is a tendency for the same to tip out of line,thereby causing excessive wear on the bottom wall section of the mouthof the friction shell. In order to counteract this tendency, I pro videa thimble 33 securely fastened to the follower C engaging within andclosely titting a bore provided in the wedge block 31, thereby insuringcorrect alinement.

The coupler 15 is connected to the yoke A by means of the key D, the keyD having the main body portion thereof, which is indicated by 34,extending through an opening 35 in the-coupler shank and the openings22-22 in the side walls of the hood of the yoke.v The opposite ends36-36 of the key, which are reduced in width, as clearly shown in Figure2, work in the slots 12-12 of the draft sills. The key I) is so designedthat the frontedges of the reduced portions 36 36 are in transversealinemcnt with the front edge of the main body7 portion of the key,while the rear edges of said reduced sections are forwardly offset withrespect to the rear edge o-f the main body portion of the same.

As shown, the key is retained in position by headed pins 37-37, whichyextend through the offset ends thereof-and are retained by any wellknown means, such as cotters. As most clearly illustrated in Figure 2,the slots 22-22 in the hood of the yoke are of considerably shorterlength than the guide slots for the key in the draft sills, and in abufiing or inward movement of the coupler the main body portion of thekey` engagespthe inner ends of the slots of the yoke before the reducedend portions of the key engagethe inner ends of the slots of the draftsills, whereby the yoke is moved inwardly to a limited extent during abufiing action. `Inorder to accommodate this movement,k clearance isprovided between the inner end of the yoke and the bottom wall ofthestrikingfcasting 13, the latter being cut away, as shown at 38.

The operation vof my improved railway draftrigging during a draft actionis as follows: The coupler k15 is pulled outwardly, thereby pulling theyoke A therewith through the medium of the key D,the shock absorbingmechanism B being compressed against the front follower C by the forwardmovement of the yoke. The draft movement of the coupler will be limitedengagement of the key D with the front ends of the slots of the draftsills. During a bufiing action, upon inward movement of the coupler 15,the main follower C will be forced rearwardly directly by the coupler,thereby compressing the shock absorb-ing mechanism B' between thefollower and the rear stop means formed by the arms 14 of the casting13. After the clearance` between the main body portion of the key D andt-he rear end walls of the slots 22 of the yoke is taken up, the yokewill be forced rearwardly in unison with the coupler, this movementbeing accommo- .dated by the clearance 38 at the inner end of theyokebetween the same and the filler casting 13. During this movement ofthe coupler shank and yoke in unison, the key D will continue to moverearwardly in the slots 12 of the draft sills until the front follower Cengages the forward end of the shell 29, the slots 12 of the draft sillsbeing of sufficient length to accommodate the necessary movement ofthecoupler key D. The buffing movement thus provided is in excess of thedraft movement, as will be clear, especially upon reference to Figure 2,wherein the normal position of the parts is shown and the reduced ends36-36 of the key D are illustrated as spaced a greater distance from therear walls of the slots 12 than from the front walls thereof. During thebufiing and draft movement of the mechanism, the horizontal alinement ofthe parts is at all times maintained by the supporting means at theforward end of the yoke and the swinging link suspension for the yoke atthis point.

By'providing the form ofcoupler key shown in Figures 1 and 2, having theouter ends thereof reduced and the main body portion of vstandard width,the connection between the yoke and the coupler is of adequate strength,while at the same time the longer travel of the parts is permittedwithout unneessarily elongat-ing the slots in the draft sil s.

Referring next to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures3, 4 and 5, the draft sills which areindicated by V are provided withstop lugs similar to the stop lugs illustrated inFigures 1 and 2, and acombined rear stop and filler casting, similar to the casting 13. Thefront stop lugs and the sills are provided with alined coupler key guideslots 112, which are identical with the slots 12 hereinbefore described.The coupler is indicated by and is connected by a key J in all respectssimilar to the key D, hereinbefore described, to a yoke F, which issimilar to the yoke A. A shock absorbing mechanism G and a front mainfollower H,

similar to the corresponding parts B and C hereinbefore described, aredisposed within the yoke and cooperate with the stops of the sills inthe same manner. The inner end of the yoke F is also supported 'by asaddle plate, not shown, similar to the saddle plate 24 illustrated inFigure 1. At the forward end, the yoke F has the lower wall thereofupwardly offset, as indicated at 123, to provide a supporting shelf forthe coupler shank adjacent the head of the same. The forward end of theyoke at the shelf portion 123 there-l of is supported by a pair of linksK-K, which are in turn supported by rockers M-M fulcrumed on bearingmeans provided on the underframe structure of the car. As shown inFigure 4, a pair of bearing brackets or blocks 15G-150 are employed, thesame being fixed to the outer sides of the draft sills 110-110. Asindicated in Figures 4 and 5, the bearing blocks 150 are disposedsubstantially in transverse alinement with the striking casting S, whichis fixed to the underframe structure of the car and forms a spacingmember between the front f end portions of the draft sills. Each blockis provided with a bearing seat 151 for the lower end of thecorresponding rocker M. Each rocker M has a rounded lower end portion152 cooperating with the corresponding bearing seat 151 and a forkedupper end 153 providing a bearing seat for pivot means in the form of atrunnion 154 provided on the inner side of the corresponding link Kbetween the top and bottom ends thereof. The links K are thusY supportedfor .swinging movement on the rockers M-M. At the lower ends, the linksare Vconnected to the yoke F by means of a pivot pin 155 extending'through a Apair of depending lugs 156-156 formed integral withthebottom ies iso

wall of the hood of the yoke F and alined openings in the bottom ends ofthe links K. The upper ends of the links are guided for verticalmovement, the striking casting S being provided with spaced upstandinglugs 160--160, having vertical guide slots 15T- 157 therein whichaccommodate a pin 158 for vertical movement, the pin having its oppositeends secured in alined openings pr vided at the upper ends of the linksMHM.

The operation of my improved railway draft rigging as illustrated inFigures 3, 4 and 5, is substantially the same as that of the structuredescribed in connection with Figures 1 and 2, with the exception thatthe link supporting means illustrated in Figures 3, t and 5 provides fortrue horizontal movement of the forward end of the yoke F. Thishorizontal movement is obtained through the rocking fulcrum supportingmeans for the links K-I As will be evident, in both a buff and draftaction, as the yoke is moved inwardly or outwardly with respect to thecar proper, the supporting links K-K will swing on the trunnion members15a-154 cooperatingiwith the forked upper ends of the rockers M, whilethe rockers will swing forwardly and rearwardly about the fulcrum pointsatlower ends thereof, thereby causing the trunnions 154--154 of thelinks to travel forwardly and rearwardly, as indicated by the dottedline circles 161-161 in Figure 5. Due to the rocking movement of themembers M and the positioning of the pivots, as indicated at 1651-461,the lower ends of the links and the pivot pin 155 will travel in ahorizontal path, assuming the full and dotted line positions indicatedby 159 and 162 respectively. During` this swinging movement of thelinks, the upper ends of the same will be guided in a substantiallyvertical path by the guide slots 157 in the lugs 160 of the strikingcasting with which the pin 158 cooperates.

I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferredmanner of carryingl out my invention, but the same is merelyillustrativev and I contemplate all changes and modifications that comewithin the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a railway draft rigging, the combination with the underframestructure of the car; of a yoke member; shock absorbing means within theyoke; a coupler; means connecting the shank of the coupler to said yoke;and means supporting and guiding the yoke length Yise of the car,including link means pivotally connected to the yoke and swingin glysupported on the underframe structure of the car to guide said pivotalconnection in a true horizontal path.

2. In a railway draft rigging, the combination with the underframestructure of the car; of a yoke member; and means supporting and guidingthe yoke for movement lengthwise of the car including links pivotallyconnected at their lower ends to said yoke, guide means for the upperends of said links, and members swingingly lsupporting said linksbetween the ends thereof. Y

3. Inl a railway draft rigging, the combination with the underframestructure of the car; of a yoke member; and means supporting and guidingthe yoke for movement lengthwise of the car including a link memberpivotally connected at its lower end tothe yoke, a member having rockingmovement on the underframe structure of the car, pivot means inwardly ofthe upper end of said link, swingingly supported on said rocking member,and means guiding the upper end of said link for vertical movement.

4. In a railway draft rigging, the combination with the underframestructure of the car; of a yoke member; means supporting and guiding.the yoke for movement lengthwise of the car, includingV a pair of linkspivoted to the yoke at the lower ends thereof, and rockers supportingsaid links on the underframe structure of the car, said rockers beingpivotally connected to the links and said under-frame respectively; andmeans guiding the upper ends of said links including trunnion means onsaid links and vertical guideways therefor on the underframe structureof the car.

5. In a railway draft rigging, the combination with draft sills; of astriking casting fixed to said sills, said striking casting having guidemembers thereon provided with transversely alined vertical guide slots;bearing members on the underframe structure of the car disposed beneathsaid guide members of the striking casting; a yoke; a pair of rockersengaging in the seats of the bearing.

members, each of said rockers having a bearing seat at the upper endthereof; a link swingingly supported by each rocker, said link having apivot lug between the ends thereof engaging the seat of thecorresponding rocker, each of said links being pivotally connected atits lower end to the forward end portion of said yoke; and pivot meansat the upper end of each link guided in the co-rrespending guide slot ofthe striking casting.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my namethis 13th day of November, 1930.

JOHN F. OCONNOR.

